Patterns of preoperative laboratory testing in patients undergoing outpatient plastic surgery procedures

• Published in: Aesthetic surgery journal Vol. 34; no. 1; p. 133
• Main Authors: Fischer, John P, Shang, Eric K, Nelson, Jonas A, Wu, Liza C, Serletti, Joseph M, Kovach, Stephen J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures - trends; Blood Chemical Analysis - trends; Chi-Square Distribution; Clinical Laboratory Services - trends; Comorbidity; Cosmetic Techniques - adverse effects; Cosmetic Techniques - trends; Female; Hematologic Tests - trends; Humans; Liver Function Tests - trends; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - trends; Predictive Value of Tests; Preoperative Care - trends; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - trends; Risk Factors; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; United States; United States; complication; labs; laboratory; preoperative testing; ambulatory surgery
• ISSN: 1527-330X
• DOI: 10.1177/1090820X13515880

Preoperative laboratory testing is commonplace in the clinical setting and is often utilized at surgeon discretion. We searched the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) data set to determine the impact of preoperative laboratory testing in ambulatory plastic surgery patients. The authors assess the utilization and predictive value of preoperative laboratory testing in outpatient plastic surgery procedures. Patients undergoing ambulatory plastic surgery were identified from the 2005 to 2010 NSQIP databases. Laboratory tests were categorized by group: hematologic, chemistry, coagulation, and liver function tests (LFT). We defined complications in 2 groups: major postoperative and wound complications. Multivariate analyses were used to identify patient characteristics associated with testing and to assess the ability of laboratory testing to predict postoperative complications. A total of 5359 (62.0%) patients underwent testing; 881 (16.4%) tests were performed on the day of surgery. In patients with no defined NSQIP comorbidities, 59.4% underwent preoperative testing and had a significantly lower rate of abnormal findings (33.4% vs 25.3%, P < .0001). In multivariate analyses, testing was associated with older age, American Society of Anesthesiologists class >2, Hispanic or African American race, body contouring procedures, epidural or spinal procedures, and with diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. Major complications occurred in 0.34% of patients. Our analysis demonstrated that neither testing nor abnormal results were associated with postoperative complications, either major (P = .178) or wound (P = .150). We found no association between abnormal laboratory testing and postoperative morbidity. Preoperative testing in low-risk ambulatory plastic surgery patients may be costly and has limited direct clinical benefit.